Apparatus for unwinding coils



May 22, 9 H. BRANTHOOVER 2,746,511

APPARATUS FOR UNWINDING COILS Filed April 7, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 1IIIIIII IIII III!!! iu x IN V EN TOR.

iMM 2W4 w May 22, 1956 Filed April '7, 1952 H. BRANTHOOVER APPARATUS FORUNWINDING COILS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ATJTY? May 22, 1956 H. BRANTHOOVER APPARATUS FOR UNWINDING COILS 4Sheets-Shea- 5 Filed April 7, 1952 IN V EN TOR W BY ATTY May 22, 1956 H.BRANTHOOVER APPARATUS FOR UNWINDING COILS 4 Sheets-Sheet Filed April 7,1952 INVENTOR.

United States Patent APPARATUS FORtUNWINDING COILS Harold Branthoover,Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Donovan gtfig lickling Company, Toledo, Ohio,a corporation of Application Apr-H7, 1952, Serial No. 280,958;

1*Claim. (Cl. 153-54) This invention relatesto. apparatus for theuncoiling of millrolls of sheet metal andthe feeding of the metal striptherefromv to shearingor otherfabricatingmachines.

An object ofthis invention is to provide a support. for. a mill roll ofstrip material and to eifect a controlled;

uncoiling thereof. a

Another object of this invention is to provide an ad= justable frame forholding various sizerolls of sheet material from which the discharge ofa strip therefrom is kept underfull control.

Another object of this invention is toprov-ide an uncoiling,apparatus'wherein the rate of feed therefrom is nicely controlled andthe stripis maintainedwithina predetermined path.

Andanother. object of this invention is to; provide an apparatus forhandling; heavy coils of sheet; stock, to.

evenly and. smoothly'uncoil the same andrdeliver the feed thereof toother apparatus at a controlled rate and through a confined path.

Other objects and advantagesof this inventionzrelating to thearrangement, operation and function-of the related elements of thestructure, to various details of construction, tocOmbinations ofpa-rtsand to economics ofmanug facture, willbe apparent to those-skilled inthe art upon considerationof the-following descriptionand appendedclaims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming apart'ofthis-specification'wherein like reference charactersdesignatecorresponding; parts to the several views. I

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus from the drive side thereof;

Fig. 2 is a view on the line II-II, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view on the line III-III, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is aview on the line IVI", Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the apparatus;

Fig. 6 is a view on the line VIVI, Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an end view of the apparatus, looking from the right of Fig.1;

Fig. 8 is a partial side view of the apparatus from the right of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a view on the line IX-IX, Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a view on the line XX, Fig. 7; and

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of one of the side plates used within theapparatus.

. For purposes of description, the machine herein may be considered ashaving two major sections, a cradle and an ironer 22.

The cradle The cradle 20 includes a box-type frame constructed fromheavy I-beams capable of supporting weights measured in tons. The frameincludes corner posts 24 connected by and supporting an opposing pair oflower side beams 26 and a pair of upper side beams 28. End beams 30connect and extend between the sides;

The pair of lower .side beams 26 mount three aligned pairs of bearings32, 34, 36, each pair in turn mounting "ice a shaft 38 which is an axlefor a roller 40. The bearings:

ucts, the coil is subjected to a cleansing treatment such as a picklingbath and then conveyed to the machine herein disclosed which unwraps thecoil and feeds the same in the form of a continuous strip to an initialfabricating apparatus such as a shear which cuts. the strip into usuablelengths or blanks suitable for additional fabrication. a

The tremendous weights involved and the tensions developed within thecoil and in the individual wraps ad- Vance problems in the uncoiling andit is the purpose of the machine herein to overcome these difiticulties.

When the coil 42 is deposited upon the rollers- 40,"it is desirable tohold the coil against lateral movement during the uncoiling operation,prevent self-uncoiling, and restrain outward pyramiding of inner wraps.It is desirable to feed the strip therefrom only in a predeterminedcontrolled manner both as to direction and rate.

To this end, a pair of side plates 44, 46, are provided, verticallyextending upwardly from the rollers 40, in opposing relationship betweenthe pairs of side beams 26',

28, to thereby provide a pocket or bin for the coil-42.

In that the coils are of various Widths, these plates 44, 46, areadjustable toward and from each other. The plate 44 has a plurality ofrods 48 terminally fixed thereto and extending outwardly therefromthroughbearings50 mounted on the frame members24, 28. The'plate 44, asso supported'may be manually shifted laterallyin the frame and when setat a predetermined position, usually against or very close to one sideof the coil 42, set screws 52, in the bearings 50, may lock the plate 44in its predetermined position. This plate 44 may be initially set as theguide for gauging the deposit of the coil 42 onto the rollers 40.

The plates 44, 46, are provided with "cut-out portions 54 for therollers 40;

The plate 46 is also provided with a plurality of outwardly extendingmounting rods 56 which are threaded into and mounted by nuts 58supported in brackets 60 mounted on the frame members 24 and 28.

These nuts 58 also mount sprockets 62 which are con nected by chains 64.An additional nut and sprocket are mounted on a member 24 and in turnmount a crank 66. Rotation of the crank 66 drives the chains 64, whichin turn, rotate the nuts 58 to laterally shift the plate 46 toward andfrom the plate 44.

There is thus provided a roughly adjustable plate 44 and a finelyadjustable plate 46, manually controlled so that the spacing of theplates may be readily and nicely effected.

The rollers 40 are positively driven at a common speed and this isaccomplished through a transmission system including a drive chain 68from the ironing unit 22, driving sprocket 70 fixed on the shaft 33nearest the unit 22. Additional sprockets 72 and connecting chains '74between the shafts 38 provide an interconnecting transmission.

The coil 42 is deposited by a suitable carrier into the cradle unit 20,to freely rest on the rollers 4i). No axle device is required. The sideplates 44, 46 are adjusted to adjacent the sides of the coil. j'ne outerwarp 76 of the coil is passed under the roller 41) carrying the sprocket70 and between guides 78, 80 carried by the plates 44, 46. These guidescomprise a pair of L-shaped angle strips Patented May 22, 1956:

76 to buckle or shift out line in its movement from the coil 42 to theironing unit 22.

The ironer In aligned position with the unit 20, the ironer 22 in cludesa frame 82 mounting a series of opposing pairs of rollers 84 which maybe adjusted as to each other by operation of hand wheel 86 toaccommodate various thicknesses of sheet metal strips 76 which aresmoothed therebetween. These rollers 84 are driven in unison by aninterconnecting sprocket and chain transmission 86, in turn driven froma speed reduction transmission 88, driven by a motor (not shown). Whenthe metal sheet leaves the coil 42, there remains therein a tendency torecoil, warp or buckle, which has been caused by internal stress set upduring the original coiling and subsequent shipment and storage of thecoil. By passing the strip between the series of leveling rollers 84,the recoil tendency is reduced to a minimum, so that the strip inleaving-the i oner will lie fiat on the conveyor 98, facilitating thesubsequent handling at the cutter or other fabricating devices.

Each roller 84 is mounted on a shaft 90 and one of these shafts 90 has aported plate 92 fixed therewith as part of a clutch mechanism 94 wherebya sprocket 96 may be engaged at will to be driven by the shaft 90. Thesprocket 96 engages the chain 68 extending to the cradle unit 20.

When the sprocket 96 is driven by the shaft 90, the rollers 40 will bedriven at a complementary speed with the rollers 84 so that the feed ofthe strip 76 from the coil 42 equals the capacity of the rollers 84.Thus a smooth movement of the .strip is assured to and through theironer 84.

The smoothed strip 76 passes from the rollers 84 on to a conveyor 98which conveyor may carry the strip to a shearing or cutting apparatusserving as the initial step in the fabrication of the sheet stock intofinished or end products.

Disposed between the units 20, 22 is an auxiliary frame 100 providing amount for a second strip retaining guide. This frame 100 mounts a pairof converging brackets 102, one on each side thereof to provide stripedge retainers coacting with brackets 102 which mount a sheet hood 104therebetween extending over the width of the strip 76. There is thusprovided two sets of guides, one set as the strip leaves the coil andother as it enters the ironer. This insures against any undue bucklingof the strip during the transfer and retains a smooth feed thereofthroughout the entire length of strip provided by any one coil.

The pulling of the outer wrap from the coil may create some disturbanceof the coil body causing the same to rock from the cradle. To preventundue movements of this type, the rear posts 24 may mount bearings 106which in turn support an'idler roller 108.

Itis to be understood that the above detailed description of the presentinvention is intended to disclose an embodiment thereof to those skilledin the art, but that the invention is not to be construed as limited inits application to the details of construction and arrangement of partsillustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capableof being practiced and carried out in various ways without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. The language used in the specificationrelating to the operation and function of the elements of the inventionis employed for purposes of description and not of limitation, and it isnot intended to limit the scope of the following claim beyond therequirements of the prior art.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States LettersPatent:

Apparatus for unwinding coils of sheet metal strips References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,020,889 Hofer Nov. 12,1935 2,207,663 Glasner July 9, 1940 2,246,840 Crane et al. 'June 24,1941 2,266,067 Nyberg Dec. 16, 1941 2,267,161 Miller Dec. 23, 19412,267,175 Skriba Dec. 23, 1941 2,441,544 Longfield May 11, 1948 FOREIGNPATENTS 464,215 Germany Aug. 10, 1928

